Kissing Her Tears Away
by snowzone5
Summary: AU: Mike moves to a new town called Hawkins. He meets some of the local kids, and a quiet girl named El. Mileven fluff, angst, and more mileven fluff.
1. Chapter 1 - Sardines

**Sardines**

Mike didn't really care if he moved to a new town. To him it didn't make any difference if he had no friends in this new town, because he wasn't leaving any friends in the old town.

This new place was called Hawkins, his dad had gotten a job in some lab that was here. Mike figured that instead of sleeping on the La-Z-boy at home, he'd be sleeping on some cushy office chair at the lab. Either way he'd be sleeping his life away. Mike wondered if his dad knew how many kids he'd had. He was sure that he didn't know about Holly.

After the moving truck had pulled away the whole family had been exhausted after a full day of unpacking so they'd ordered out for pizza they had fallen asleep on the newly put together beds.

Mike had too much nervous energy. He would have been lying to himself if he'd said he he wasn't interested in the group of kids that were sitting on the lawn next door.

It looked like three guys and a girl, they were occasionally glancing his way. A new kid in town always drew a certain amount of curiosity for neighbourhood kids.

Mike tried not to look too often and concentrate on his D&D manual. He didn't know who he'd play with, but he always found solace in the intricate rules of the game.

They weren't exactly ignoring him, but they weren't coming over to talk to him either. Mike wasn't really good at meeting new people. He didn't think of himself as a good judge of character. In the past he'd tried to be friends with a few people, but they turned out to be little assholes within the first day of talking to him so he hadn't bothered with them again.

He'd had a crush on a girl in the last town he lived in, but she never knew and Mike was too shy to even let her know. I'll be single until I'm ninety, Mike thought to himself. He couldn't keep his hair neat, it always seemed to be a chaotic dark mop. He hadn't lost his pale freckles yet. One thing was for sure, girls were not tripping over themselves to come over and talk to him.

Mike gave a deep sigh. Yup. New town, same old shit.

The last time he looked over at the kids, they were all looking at him. The curly haired one waved him over. Mike just looked at them. He was waved over again.

Mike jumped up and ran over.

The guy with the curly hair said, "see Lucas, I _told_ you he was reading the _Dungeon Masters Guide_."

He looked at Mike and said, "I'm Dustin, I'll be your Bard. This is Lucas, your Ranger. Our Cleric Will isn't with us today, the annoying redhead is Max, she's your Zoomer."

Mike got his back up, "that's not even a real thing."

"It could be." Max said, she was sitting close to Lucas.

"Like I said, annoying," Dustin continued, "but, not our problem, she's Lucas's girlfriend… and the quiet one is El. She's our Mage."

Mike looked at what he thought was the other guy, but it was a girl. She had buzzed hair, doe eyes that made Mike's heart quiver a little. Her shy smile almost knocked Mike off his feet. He sat down because he didn't think his knees would hold him up anymore. Mike didn't do it on purpose, but he seemed to sit a lot closer to her than a brand new acquaintance probably should.

She didn't seem to mind.

"I'll be your Paladin." Mike meant that for the group, but he was only looking at El when he said it. She turned red and nodded slightly.

"Ok," she said in a hushed voice, "you will be my paladin."

Max rolled her eyes at Mike. "oh, here we go. There El, you see, boys _will_ talk to you." El's face reddened another shade or two. Mike just gave her his "it's ok" smile.

"We were just about to play Sardines, are you in?"

"What's sardines?"

"It's like a reverse hide and seek. One of us goes to hide, and each person that finds the first one, hides with them. Obviously it will get to the point where the second last person is going to have a hard time hiding in the same place 'cause everyone is crammed in the spot like sardines...get it? . Last person to find the group loses and gets to do the hiding the next round."

"Ok," Mike smiled, "I'm in." Sitting really close to El would not be the worst thing he could think of. Max on the other hand…

"Ok, El will start first, she's good at being quiet and hiding. Ok, El?"

She nodded and stood up, smiling at Mike.

"Ok everyone," Dustin said, "hide your eyes and count to one hundred."

They counted.

"...99 ...100. Ok split up." Dustin said.

Mike ran off in the direction behind his house. He dropped off his book, and has he went around to the back yard he saw the half height tool shed. It wasn't very big, probably empty, and he thought it would make a good hiding spot.

He opened it up, the hinges creaked a little from disuse. El's large eyes looked up at him. His heart fell when he saw that she'd been crying.

"Are you ok, El?"

She hesitated and nodded. "I'm ok… now"

Mike tried to crawl in with her, but he didn't quite fit. "Hmmm, let me think" Mike really wanted to sit close to her. Finally his face brightened.

"Oh, I know, hold your left arm out, ok, that frees up enough space for me to squish myself in there. Um, uh, my right arm is going to have to go around your shoulders, is that ok?"

She looked at him with another shy smile and nodded.

Once they were in place, Mike closed the tool shed door. El's arm was around his waist, and his arm was over her shoulder. Their sides were pressed up against each other. Comfortably. One thing was for sure. Nobody else was getting in there with them.

"This is a first for me. I'd never thought I'd move to a new town and have my arms around a pretty girl the very first day." Mike could feel his face burning.

In a whisper he heard El say, "you think I'm pretty?"

"Uh, yeah… pretty… really pretty." Mike thought he might as well get that out there right now. Better to be shot down in flames now, instead of pining for her for a whole year without her knowing.

Kind if fast for you isn't it Mike? He thought to himself. New town, let's try something different for a change. He'd never pursued a girl before. He'd always worshipped from afar. That had never worked for him.

The sun hung low in the sky creating shafts of light through the tool shed. He followed one of the shafts that fell on El's beautiful eyes, one had shed a tear.

Mike turned his head and looked forward so she wouldn't feel self-conscious.

He felt her move, and then a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you Mike."

"I meant it El. Friends Don't Lie. And we're friends now."

"Ok… I won't lie to you either… I think you are…," she was struggling with the word, "... handsome. I never thought I'd have my arms around a boy. Ever."

And now Mike's face was on fire.

No girl had _ever_ said that to him.

"Um, El?"

"Yes, Mike?"

"I don't think they're going to find us. Uh, I don't think I want them to."

"Neither do I."

"If it's ok, we'll just wait here until everyone goes home. I'll walk you home when the sun goes down." Mike didn't want her walking alone at night. Not even in a quiet town like Hawkins where he'd heard that nothing ever happens.

"I'd like that." Mike could not see El's full smile in the waning light that was losing its battle to enter the tool shed.

"Um, El? Where you crying just before I found you?"

"Yes. I don't like small dark spaces. Or being alone in them."

"It's ok, I'm here with you now. Um, maybe we shouldn't play this game. Nothing where you have to be in a small space. Next time we're all playing game, I'll make sure, ok?"

"Thanks Mike."

He figured they'd been sitting with their arms around each other for over two hours. They didn't talk, they just enjoyed each other's company. Every now and then he felt El squeeze his waist a little, and he would squeeze her shoulders back, a little. Then they would both sigh. It was now dark out, and neither one really wanted to leave and disturb the sense of peacefulness they felt.

"I should get you home, your parents will be worried if you are out after dark."

"It's just me and my dad Mike, he knows I'm with friends."

"Still, I'll feel better if you are home safe."

El smiled in the dark. "Ok."

"Ordinarily I would let the lady out first, but we are squeezed in here, so I think if we just reverse the order we entered."

Mike opened the tool shed door and crawled out. The night air was cool. He helped El get out of the shed, and could see she started shivering. He took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders.

"It's cold now that we aren't sharing body heat."

El giggled, "you were nice and warm."

Mike looked down smiling. He really liked this girl and he didn't know anything about her.

"C'mon, I'll walk you home." He started walking, and within a few yards realized he didn't know where she lived.

El grabbed his hand, and pulled him in the direction of her house. Somewhere along the line their fingers intertwined, if either had noticed they kept it to themselves.

El's house was behind his parents house on the next street over. He could probably see her window from his if he looked.

They were walking towards the porch stairs of El's house, when a deep voice said, "she's good at hiding isn't she?"

Both El and Mike jumped. "Hi dad, Mike is the only one who found me."

"I know. The rest of the party, that's what they're calling themselves, said if you decided to come home I should tell you that you two won."

El looked at Mike than at her dad, "yes, I won the prize."

Hopper just rolled his eyes at his daughter, he looked over at Mike and growled. "You treat her with respect. Are we clear?"

Mike answered him, but was looking at El, "I promise."


	2. Chapter 2 - Returning the Favour

**Returning The Favour**

Mike didn't remember walking home. All he could think of was holding El's hand from the tool shed to her house.

And the kiss.

Sure, it was only on the cheek, but if he thought about it a little he could still feel the kiss. What would it be like to actually kiss her? Mike could only dream. He wouldn't be doing that tonight because he knew he would never get to sleep.

Mike thought he was in awfully deep for a girl he didn't know, and who didn't know him. He was a nerd, he didn't know about the rest of the Party, but if they played D&D chances were good they were nerds too. Max did not seem like nerd at all. He didn't think El was either.

She seemed to like him though and that was a better start than he'd had with any girl he'd ever known. A few years ago he wasn't interested in girls anyway, he was too busy playing the game. It was just as well because they weren't interested in him either.

In the morning Mike found he was right. He didn't sleep. All he could think about was El, how he'd walked her home holding hands the entire time, how he promised her dad he would respect her. How she kissed him. The cheek yeah, but still, that was an actual kiss from an actual girl.

He got out of bed early in the morning and went to the basement, to maybe work on a D&D campaign. He would even create a Zoomer class for the Max, the redhead. The guys would find it funny, he knew. Maybe Max would even appreciate the fact that he gone to some effort to include her in a game that nerds played.

He was buried in papers and charts for a few hours, when he heard the doorbell ring… and soon after his mother calling out, "Michael, you have a visitor, I'm sending her down."

Her?

Mike turned to give El the biggest smile he could make. He saw the red hair first, and she had a scowl on her face until she saw Mike's smile. Her entire face softened.

"That smile tells me you were expecting El. That's what I'm here about."

"Is she ok?"

"She's fine Mike, I think she's a little sad. She's quieter today than usual. I've only known her a month, but we're getting to be best friends. I wanted to talk to you before the next time you guys got together."

"Ok…" Mike had no idea what this was about.

"Mike… don't hurt her."

"I would never do that…. Never!"

Max looked him in the eyes.

"Hmm, she's right."

"What?"

"You have beautiful eyes." Max cheeks burned red.

Mike rolled his eyes, "ugh, cut that out, I don't want Lucas beating me up."

"I already know that you're like Lucas, you two have a gentle souls. He would never beat you up. I'll kick the shit out of you if you tell anybody I said that."

Mike laughed, " _that's_ the Max I was led to believe existed."

"So are we clear?"

"That's what her dad asked me last night too. Everyone is protective of El. Well, uh, I will be too. Um, why do you think she's sad?"

"She doesn't think she's pretty. More specifically, she doesn't think she's pretty enough for you. Not with her hair."

"...for me…" Mike looked down. "Well… she is... I think her hair cut is cute... besides, I'm the one the bullies call frogface. I've never had any expectations of girls actually liking the way I looked."

"You've never had a girlfriend?"

"No." Mike's blushed. "I don't know why I'm even telling you this."

"It's because I'm easy to talk to." Max smirked. "Don't worry I won't let your secret out."

Mike laughed, "...and I won't let your's out."

"Mike," Max was suddenly serious again. "El is the sweetest girl I know… just… just don't hurt her."

"I won't Max, I promise." This was the second promise Mike had made when it came to El. He would promise El anything. Anything at all.

"I have to go, Lucas and I are going to Benny's… that's a burger place, maybe we'll double date next time." She smiled over her shoulder at Mike and left the basement.

Mike smiled to himself, he thought that El had a really good friend in Max, she'd wouldn't get bullied at school about her hair if Max had anything to say about it. Mike was sure about that.

He went back to his campaign notes. Trying to decide if he should go easy on the Party, or test their roleplaying skills by being tough on them.

He'd only been back at it for a few minutes when he heard the doorbell ring. Once again he heard his mom at the top of the stairs, this time she said, "it's ok sweetie, he's down there, he won't mind."

Mike looked up to find El watching him.

Oh… her eyes. Mike's heart hammered in his chest. Then it triple-hammered. And then it did backflips. Then it stopped.

He wanted to say "Hi" but he had no voice. The way she looked at him also meant he wasn't going to be able to stand up. Because you need knee caps made out of bone for that, and right now Mike's were pure jelly.

"Mike?"

Mike was positive that if he ever got to hear the voice of a real angel, it would sound just like that. He was absolutely positive.

"El?" He found his voice. She came over and sat on the sofa, half turned to him.

"We have a problem."

"Um, ok, El, I'll fix it if I can." She looked at him as if she wasn't sure _any_ problem she had could be fixed.

"My dad, misun… misunderstood something we said last night."

"What was it El?"

"He thinks I'm your girlfriend… and…" She looked away, "...I'm not…" Her voice had the end note of "we're done here" on it.

Mike's spirit died a little then. Oh. She was going to give him the "we can still be friends speech". Most guys would rather be kicked in the nuts then hear that.

She turned back to look at him, shit, here it comes MIke braced himself for the crushed feeling his heart was about to endure.

"...but I want to be…"

The tear he'd seen in her eye last night, now had a twin, and both were making their way down her cheeks.

His mind was blank. Did she just say…? Mike did the only thing he could think of. He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her in just enough... and kissed away her tears.

He thought he'd caught the scent of a vanilla and lavender combination, but he couldn't be sure. He was looking into her big eyes and he was completely lost in time. Her eyes were pleading with his. They had a question in them.

"Um, I never want to hurt you El… and… uh, if you will be my girlfriend… I promise I'll try my hardest not to. I really will."

Her eyes had totally trashed his resolve. His heart was beating like a hummingbird.

She nodded her head, a small smile turned up at the corners of her mouth.

"That means I get to hold your hand anytime I want to." Mike said.

Her smile got bigger. "...and it means I get to kiss _you_ anytime I want to… " she looked at him, "...even in front of our friends… even on the lips."

Mike felt like his face had caught fire. She was blushing too but she had a look like she'd meant everything she'd just said.

And then to prove it she leaned in and gave Mike his first kiss. Mike couldn't help himself and both of his eyes watered up, but only one let go of it's treasure.

El moved her face up to kiss away Mike's tear. "I'm returning the favour." She said.

"Let's go for a walk."


	3. Chapter 3 - Bullies

**Bullies**

"Let's go for a walk."

Immediately after stepping outside, their hands found each other meshed together.

They seemed to be walking towards the edge of town, and finally Mike asked, "Where are we going?" He was curious now.

"Train tracks. It's quiet no one will see us or bother us… and we can… kiss." She seemed unsure of herself when she said that.

"What happened to kissing me in front of our friends?" Mike was only half serious.

"I will, but… I want... Some… alone time with you. You are my first boyfriend. I'm getting used to… somebody who even… wants to kiss me."

Mike nodded, "I know what you mean."

A few minutes later and they were standing on the quiet train tracks. "It doesn't look like a train has been here for years." Mike said, "I guess it's safe to walk along here."

"It's safe to kiss, Mike."

"Huh? I mean if it's safe to walk… oh i get it." Mike smiled. "Sorry, I'm not used to a girl wanting to kiss me."

Mike awkwardly held her waist, and El put her hands on his shoulders, they both leaned into kiss. They kissed for what Mike thought was a lot longer than was possible. Or time had just stopped. Either way it was a simple kiss that Mike didn't want to stop.

El sighed against is mouth and breathed. "I like the way you kiss me, Mike."

Mike blushed, "your lips are really soft. Uh, I mean, I don't, um, know what I was expecting, of course a girl's lips would be soft, but um, I didn't think they'd be _that_ soft, and I'm sure by now I'm sounding like a total wasteoid."

El giggled, "a cute wasteoid." And then she blushed too.

"Um, El?"

"Yes Mike?"

"I'm sorry I'm so awkward around you. I really like you and I'm nervous I'll say or do something wrong."

"Mike." She turned to him, "I understand"

"Cool." Mike looked down and smiled.

"Cool." El squeezed his hand and they continued walking.

Mike shook his head.

"What's wrong Mike."

"I'm walking down a set of abandoned train tracks. Holding hands with the prettiest girl I've ever seen in my life. And this girl is my _girlfriend_. We've kissed. I'm dreaming. Not a bully in sight. I _must_ be dreaming."

"Then we are having the same dream Mike. The guy I lo- like is holding my hand, has already told me I'm pretty… more than once. And he's my boyfriend. If it's a dream Mike, it's one I want so share with you."

Suddenly Mike stopped. He let go of El's hand and stepped in front of her. "Shit. I knew this was too good to be true."

She looked around his shoulder from behind to see what he was looking at farther down the tracks. "Who are they?"

"Bullies."

"You know them?"

"No, but I know the type who have that walk. They'll just push you down, but they're probably going to beat me up. Sorry El. You are going to see me unable to defend myself. I could outrun them easily, I'm used to doing that, but that's not going to happen today. Stay behind me."

El could hear the fear in Mike's voice. She felt sorry for how helpless she knew he must be feeling.

"You are on our tracks frogface." The shorter bully said.

Mike sighed defeated, but didn't say anything.

"Oh and look he's protecting his boyfriend." Mike hadn't seen El peak from behind, her face dark.

The bully continued to walk menacingly towards them… and then stumbled and fell face forward onto the train rail. His jaw was almost torn off, half a dozen teeth were left scattered around. He got up in shock holding his jaw in place, afraid it would fall off. His larger friend helped his screaming, crying partner in crime and they ran off the way they came.

Mike couldn't believe what had just happened. He had an encounter with two bullies and he had come away with no bruises. More importantly El was safe. He was a little humiliated at his confession, but she was safe.

He turned to looked at her and was shocked to see how pale and unsteady on her feet she was. Her nose was bleeding.

"El, are you ok?" He put his arms around her to keep her from falling over and almost carried her over to a stump off to the side of the tracks.

"Pocket." She said with no strength behind her voice.

Confused, Mike felt the pockets for her cover-alls. He found a lump and reached in to pull it out. It was a Three Musketeers. Oh, she must be diabetic, this chocolate bar had the most sugar of any you could buy in a store.

He opened it up and broke off a small piece for her to eat. She was able to eat it, and he broke off another larger piece. She ate that and was able to eat the whole thing. In a few minutes she was looking gratefully at him.

"I'm sorry, El, you should have told me you were diabetic, I would have made sure you had your insulin."

"Insul…. Insulin?"

"You don't know what that is?

"I'm not di… di…." She struggled with the word.

"Diabetic. It's a sugar level thing with your body."

"It's something else, Mike."

"Um, oh ok… uh, you don't have to tell me if it's um, girl stuff or something."

"It's not girl stuff silly." She gave him a wide smile. The smiled disappeared.

"I don't want to keep secrets from you Mike… but this one I have to… for now. Are you… are you ok with that?"

"As long as you're ok… I'll respect your privacy El." He looked down.

"Mike." She gave him a heavy sigh, "...it's complicated. I need to ask you a really big favour… please don't tell my dad… that I… had… an _episode_."

"It's ok El. I didn't think I had a thing for mysterious girls, but I've just discovered I did." He gave her a smile and was delighted to see the relief in her eyes. "Pretty and mysterious girls… who knew."

Mike leaned over to kiss away the tear that rolled down her cheek, "It's ok El. Really, it is."

"Are you going to kiss away all my tears Mike?"

"Every one of them El. Every last one of them… as long as you're ok with that?"

"I cry a lot." She looked down. "I'm ok with that now."

"You are beautiful when you cry El. But.. I'll try not to make you cry."

Mike stood up and held out his hand to help pull her up. He made sure she wasn't wobbly before taking her hand.

"We should probably replace that chocolate bar in case you have another… episode."

"Can you take me home Mike?"

"Yeah, let's head back."

Mike held his girlfriend's hand all the way to her house. He didn't care if her dad saw. Feeling brave he kissed her at her front door.

"If you're going to kiss my daughter, at least come in and introduce yourself properly."

Mike's mouth went dry instantly. Oh shit.


	4. Chapter 4 - Meeting Chief Hopper

**Meeting Chief Hopper**

Shit. He saw me kissing her. Let's get this over with.

He followed El past the front door. She led him to the sofa, her dad was sitting forward on an easy chair his elbows on his knees. In his hands he was holding the hat of the Chief of Police.

Oh, this is great. Her dad is this impossibly large guy who _also_ happens to be the police chief. He was about to be interrogated and he was pretty sure his super spy skills were not up to resisting the torture he was about to get.

From there Mike could see that her dad had a perfect few of the door step. Obviously he'd been waiting for El to get home. Mike was determined not to say anything about El's episode. He wasn't going to volunteer information.

"I'm going to have a shower." El said suddenly and left the room.

Mike could tell that her dad was waiting to hear the shower running, before he spoke.

"Anything interesting happen today?"

"My usual luck sir, we ran into bullies while walking along side of the railroad tracks." Mike said 'alongside' but he was sure the chief knew everyone walked _on_ them.

The chief nodded. "Did any of the bullies happen to have a bad accident?"

Mike was stunned. How could the chief have possibly known that? Without even knowing it Mike could see he was in dangerous territory. He was not sure he'd be clever enough to direct his answers away from El.

Mike was right.

"Did El happen to have an _episode_?"

There it was. Mike was trapped and he wouldn't lie to El's dad.

"Yes sir." Mike would not look away.

Her dad nodded and looked down at his hat, "did you at least make sure she ate her chocolate bar? I won't ask you to break any promises you made to her."

"I got her to eat the whole thing."

"You probably already know this by now, but El is a very emotional girl. She cries a lot. I didn't want her to hear that in front of you. You have a plan for when she does that?"

"I do sir."

"Oh?"

"I'm going to kiss her tears away." Mike looked down his face burning hot.

The chief laughed. Not at Mike, but in appreciation of the simple solution he thought Mike had come up with. "You my friend are going to be perfect for her."

El came out at that moment, wearing different cover-alls and a different plaid shirt.

"You are laughing and Mike is not bleeding." El was joking of course, but for a split second Mike thought she'd been serious.

She sat down on the sofa close to Mike. It was all he could do not to put is arms around her and squeeze her tight.

Hopper stood up towering over the two of them. "You two are... an item?" Mike could tell her dad was uncomfortable with the idea.

Mike and El looked at each other, smiled, then looked up at Hopper nodded and said "yes" at the exact same time. Hopper noticed that their hands and found each others down by their sides.

He saw that these two were not afraid to show their affection for each other. He knew that El wore her heart on her sleeve, but apparently she'd found a boy who did the same thing. They were probably perfect for each other and there was no way in hell he would do anything to get in the way of his daughter's happiness. Not after the year they'd just had.

"I'm going out for pizza… try not to wear each others lips off ok?" He didn't bother to bask in their embarrassment but turned and left for the front door.

El ran to the window to watch Hopper's truck pull out of the driveway.

She turned to Mike and giggled, "I'm going to wear your lips off now."

* * *

El pulled back breathless. Took one look at Mike and laughed. "It looks like I've been m… mauling your lips."

"You _have_. I've definitely been mauling yours. We have to stop and let them get back to normal before your dad gets back."

"I like kissing you Mike."

"I like you kissing me too." Mike said and El laughed. They heard the truck pull into the driveway.

Hopper came in with more pizza than three people could eat in a week. "I'm a bad parent. I'm not feeding her right."

"Sir, I think you'll find that no kid is going to complain about eating pizza everyday."

"That's the worst part, they don't know any better, bad parenting."

"Um, I can show El how to cook. I've done enough of it myself helping my mom out."

"Then I can cook for you dad." El said looking up at him.

El's dad just looked at them both and nodded, then cleared his throat. "Ok, we'll pick a day next week and go grocery shopping… the three of us."

El beamed a smile at him and then at Mike.

"You'll learn even more when you take your Home Ec class."

El's smile froze and she looked at her dad. Mike thought she was about to cry again. Her face turned a shade of red.

"Um, we're not sure El is quite ready to go to school with you guys yet."

"I'm home schooled, Mike"

Mike understood immediately, she might not be at the same level as the reset of their friends.

"What if we all pitched in to tutor her,? And we'd all help through the school year."

"We'll see."

Oh, that's a 'no'. Mike had heard that enough times from his mom to know what it meant. He felt sorry for El, she needed to go to a real school be with other kids her age, even other girls besides Max. She would be teased about her hair for sure, no way of getting around that, but Mike and the rest of the Party would be there for her.

There were rules about being home schooled, Mike didn't understand why El couldn't go to a regular school. He was about to protest to her dad, but El put a hand his arm.

"It's ok Mike."


	5. Chapter 5 - Summer School

**Summer School**

Mike wasn't going to take "we'll see" for an answer.

He called the Party over every morning, and they brought books, and homework from the previous year to Mike's basement.

He'd told them that he wanted everyone to have fun during the summer so they wouldn't go really heavy on the lessons, and they would take regular breaks.

El was very enthusiastic and put a lot of hard work into her lessons. Mike knew they weren't teachers so had no way of actually assessing her progress, they'd just assumed that when El got her answers right she was learning and getting an education. So they gave her more and more work to do.

One day Mike noticed that El had stopped writing in her notebook. She was crying but trying to hide it.

"Uh, guys, can you give us a minute?"

Dustin took the hint and indicated to the rest of the party that they should head outside.

"Mike…" El was having a hard time talking through the tears. "This isn't g-g-going to w-work, I'm not sm-smart enough, I feel like you are deliberately making the lessons tougher so that I will fail an assessment exam."

"El." Mike came over and once again kissed her tears away. "If you had heard yourself speak just now you'd know that your language skills are very good. Probably better than the rest of us right now."

"Do you think so?" El sniffed and looked at him with those eyes. Mike would do anything for those eyes. Anything at all.

"I do El. You worked harder than any of us ever have in school. Maybe we did push you too hard." He looked down. "I'm really sorry El, we… I only wanted to help."

"You did Mike, I was feeling a little overwhelmed. It didn't feel like I was making any progress... give me a minute ok?"

El got up and headed for the bathroom. Mike was feeling guilty. Not only had they given her more work to do, but they had been using books from the next school year… and the one beyond that. Dustin and Lucas admitted that they were reaching a point where they couldn't tutor anymore because they didn't know the material themselves. "At least we think she can do alright with the assessment exam. That's coming up soon." Mike had said. He knew now that it was all they could do for now.

When El came back out she looked fresh, her eyes were clear and… prettier? Was that possible? Mike thought. It must have been, because he could barely talk.

"Um, wow, El. Um… you're really pretty."

She blushed and looked down, "thank you Mike. I'm ready to go on..."

"Uh, yeah about that. We pushed you really hard, so not only are we done for today… um, we are done El. We um, we cheated a little bit and did stuff way behind where we were. We couldn't teach you anything more because we don't know it ourselves...it's a bit sneaky… but we..I didn't lie to you."

El looked him in the eyes, "because Friends Don't Lie… right?"

"Right El. I think you can take the assessment exam now, and at least get to the point where you can go to school with us."

* * *

The party sat in the chairs. Mike's knee was bouncing up and down so much Hopper finally had to speak up, "Relax kid, she'll do fine. I saw the work you were tutoring her with. You pushed her pretty hard, but I think it paid off."

"Do you think so?" Mike asked, "she'd been in there a long time."

"The way these exams work, is you keep going until you can no longer answer any of the questions. Then they evaluate the level you reached. If El had come out an hour ago, I might have been worried, but not not now. You did good kid."

The library door opened. Mike stood up. El came out, her head hung low. She looked pale. Paler than usual. Oh shit, Mike thought. She took a deep breath and looked up, smiled at Mike. Not just a smile, a red giant star going supernova smile. She rushed Mike and toppled him over, landing on top of him, smothering his face with kisses.

Hopper went into library to talk to the teachers.

"Not in front of the kids." It was Dustin.

"Let me guess, you did ok?" Max said.

"I knew you could, you were learning stuff the rest of us don't even know yet." Lucas said.

El got up and pulled Mike to his feet. She continued to kiss him. Mike's face was flushed, but El didn't stop.

He gave her a weak smile, "I guess it went ok."

El nodded and kissed him one last time, then gave the rest of the party a hug, each in turn.

"I think I'm going to get to go to a real school with my friends. And I have my friends to thank for it." She was looking at Mike.

* * *

El's confidence level had been given a major boost. In the fall she'd started hanging around other girls with Max. She had a few classes with Mike, but not all of them. They seemed to be spending less time together. Mike was ok with that, she seemed to be coming out of her shell, more so than Mike himself. She hadn't had any more episodes, but Mike knew she always carried a Three Musketeers with her all the time.

He was also aware that other guys seemed to be taking an interest in her. He wasn't really surprised, El was a pretty girl. Any guy should consider himself lucky as hell to be her boyfriend.

And that's me, Mike thought to himself smiling. El is my girlfriend. Life could not be any better.

But it could be worse. Much worse. And Mike's world came crashing down around him when he opened his locker and saw an envelope with his name on it. It was El's perfect handwriting.

Uh oh. Mike picked it up and ripped it open. There was one page. He didn't read it. He didn't need to.

Because that last five words at the bottom of the page said it all.

"We can still be friends"


	6. Chapter 6 - It's Done

**It's Done**

El Hopper was no longer Mike Wheeler's girlfriend.

"We can still be friends."

Mike was positive about two things after he read those words. He could not just be friends with her. That would hurt way too much. And he loved El. Simple as that. He was going to have to live with it. He would _not_ run to her pleading for forgiveness for something he might have done. It was obvious she no longer had any romantic feelings for him. Part of it was his fault he guessed, he and his friends had given El, who'd been unsure of herself for a long time, a lot of confidence and independence. That was not a bad thing. Mike was young, he knew he'd get over it eventually.

The rest of his life would suck in the meantime.

Mike ripped up the letter, nothing he could read in it was going to make him feel any better. He was sad, he was numb. _Now_ he knew what hat meant. And he didn't like it one bit.

He had almost entered the lunch room, when he saw the Party table, everyone was sitting at it, including El. They were all laughing, including El.

She looked over smiled and waved him over. She saw the look on his face. Her smile disappeared instantly and she looked away.

Mike backed out of the room. No way he was going to be able to sit with them. He would never give the Party an ultimatum that it was either him or El. That wasn't fair to the Party or to El.

Mike went outside and ate his lunch on a bench. In the winter he'd find a quiet corner in the school somewhere to do that.

If dirt had been nutritious he might have eaten that. It would have tasted a lot better.

El Hopper was no longer Mike Wheeler's girlfriend.

They had kissed yesterday after school. There was no hesitation on El's part. They had held hands all the way home. Everything was normal. At some point overnight it had all gone to shit. El must have decided that maybe she could do better than Mike. Mike's self esteem took a bit of a hit when he realized that was probably the truth.

Clearly, if she still wanted to be friends, she bore no ill will towards him. Mike was sure that girl's just didn't get it. Any guy who said he could still be friends with an ex-girlfriend was fooling himself, They'd only be doing it on the close to impossible chance that the girl would see they really belonged together and then go back out with him. It was a fantasy. Mike had never heard of it actually happening.

When a girl said you could still be friends, they didn't want you to feel bad that they hated you, because in reality they didn't, they were simply not romantically interested in you anymore. Mike understood that. He didn't like it, but he understood it.

He was finished his lunch and had put the garbage in the can beside him, when a girl he didn't know sat down on the bench beside him. She seemed a little shy, but looked very determined.

"I hear El Hopper dumped you."

"Wow, good news travels fast" He tried to sound as sarcastic as possible.

"I'm available."

"That's nice, I'll let the rest of the guys in the school know." He got up and left her sitting on the bench.

A few minutes later, Mike felt bad that he'd been rude. In one way it was nice to know that if he wanted to maybe there was another girl that was interested in. He didn't know her name, and to be truthful he never really looked at her, so he didn't think he could pick her out in a classroom if he had to. Just as well, Mike thought, he was pretty sure she was going to be bad mouthing him from now on. It was way too soon for him anyway. Give it a year or three.

He had to walk by the lunchroom to get to his locker and he heard a commotion, it sounded like there had been a fight. He took a quick peek in and noticed the same girl sitting on the floor, with El standing over her looking very angry. El's nose was bleeding, and she was eating a chocolate bar.

Mike shrugged. Not really his problem anymore. He was concerned that it looked like she'd just had an _episode_ but she must have recovered quickly. The Party was there with her anyway.

He was going to have to spend the rest of the school year without El. He was never going look into her pretty eyes anymore. Never hold her hand again. Never kiss her again.

Because. El Hopper. Was. No. Longer. Mike Wheeler's. Girlfriend.

And who was he kidding? It wasn't going to be for the rest of the school year. It was going to be the rest of his time in Hawkins Middle. And then high school.

And then the rest of his life.

It was starting dawn on Mike now. It was really over between him and El. He would never know why. That was the way things were in middle school. You had a girlfriend and then you didn't.

He couldn't think of one example where a guy had dumped a girl. It always seemed to be the other way around. The logical part of Mike's mind figured it was because girls at that time in school matured faster than boys did. Knowing that was probably a big factor didn't make it hurt any less.

It was entirely possible El and outgrown Mike. He didn't meet her needs intellectually or emotionally anymore. That hurt a little bit more.

When the day was over he was at the bike rack, and Lucas and max, holding hands came up to him.

"That's not cool, man." Lucas said.

"What isn't?" Mike said dully.

"You not hanging out with us now."

"It's only been one day, I think I have a good excuse, I got some bad news today."

"We know, Mike, El doesn't hate you. You know that right?" Max said.

"Yeah, but she doesn't lo… like me either."

"Well, no, not that way. Not anymore."

Not anymore.

Mike burst into tears. Got on his bike quickly and peddled away furiously.

Not anymore.

El Hopper was no longer Mike Wheeler's girlfriend.

It's done.


	7. Chapter 7 - Alone Again

**Alone Again**

The next morning Mike was at his locker. He was in relatively good spirits considering.

Considering he no longer had a girlfriend.

He knew he had to get over El. Most guys his age went through girlfriends faster than favourite swimsuit models.

Mike was not most guys. He would have thought nothing of being with El forever. He cursed himself. He had to stop thinking that way or he was never going to get over her.

What remained of his good mood was dashed when he heard her voice.

"You don't want to be my friend anymore?"

Mike kept his face hidden by his locker door. He could feel a sarcastic remark coming on but he bit down on it. El didn't deserve that.

"Give me time El."

"How long before I can call you my friend again?"

Mike almost let the sarcasm slip out again, but he didn't want El to feel bad, so he told her the truth.

"I won't lie to you El. It's gonna be a long time. A year. Maybe two."

He still hadn't looked at her. If he saw her eyes he would lose it. He didn't want to do that in front of her. She had to be able to live her life guilt free. Mike did not want to be the source of any guilty feeling she might have. Or was that just wishful thinking on his part? That she actually felt anything for him at all? Friendship aside.

"Ok." Her voice didn't sound sad. At all. He heard her turn and leave.

He steadied himself and took a deep breath a few times because he heard that it helped. To Mike's surprise he felt good again. He had survived his first encounter with El-Who-Was-No-Longer-His-Girlfriend and he wasn't a mess. Well, not a complete mess anyway.

He surprised the hell out of himself by smiling. It felt real, he wasn't faking it. He thought he should feel bad but he didn't. Max was right, El didn't hate him.

Mike's smile disappeared. She just didn't want to hold his hand anymore, or be with him.

"Ah, shit." Mike's good mood was totally gone now. Ok, so maybe it took longer than a day to get over being dumped.

By the prettiest girl in the school.

Not helping yourself Mike. He thought to himself. He'd be happy if it only took a year to get over her.

Mike's first class was Mr. Clarke's Earth class. Today they were going to be assigned lab partners for a project that would have them outside for the whole class for the rest of the year.

Mike was pretty good in science, especially with Mr. Clarke as a teacher, but he hoped he'd get Dustin as a partner, because Dustin was even better in science than he was. They'd get a great mark if they worked together.

Mr. Clarke would want to split up some of the good students with those who struggled a bit with science, so odds where that he and Dustin would not be lab partners this year.

Then a thought hit Mike that stopped him in his tracks. Shit. What if it was El? The way his luck was going so far this school year it looked like he was going to win that lottery.

Could he work with her? Could he seriously work with the girl he was in love with and not feel like his heart was being torn apart by a razor sharp ice pick? He realized he might have to and steeled himself for the news.

"Dustin, you'll be working with Stacy"

"Mike, you and El Hopper will be partners."

Mike barked out a laugh. Mr. Clarke looked up, and the whole class went "oooooooh" and laughed.

When Mr. Clarke was done, he said, "so those are your partner assignments _and_ your new seating arrangements.

"Shit." Mike said loud enough for most of the class to hear but not Mr. Clarke. There was another round of laughter.

Mr. Clarke turned around from the chalkboard he was writing on. "Is there a joke you're going to let your groovy teacher in on?" He was all smiles.

In the back of the room someone said too low for Mr. Clarke to hear. "Hopper hates Wheeler."

"No? Ok, I'm not the cool science teacher I thought I was." Mr. Clarke took it in stride, "You can change your seating now."

Mike was unsure if he should go over to the desk El was sitting at or wait for her to show up at his. He was relieved when she immediately got up and came over to Mike's desk, Lucas had already got up and left.

El didn't look him in the eye as she put her back back down. She sat and turned to Mike but her head was down, "I don't hate you Mike. I could never hate you."

Mike still couldn't look at her, but said, "I know El, that guy was just trying to be funny."

"I'm not laughing," she said, he could tell by her tone of voice that she was pissed off.

"I know you don't hate me El." Mike's voice hitched a little but he recovered.

"Are you going to be able to work with me?" She asked, still not looking at him.

"Yes, I want us both to get good marks." Mike thought to himself. I can work with her, but I'll never be able to look her in the eyes. That's too much for her to ask right now.

"Ok, we need to make some planning notes, I have some ideas." El started talking and Mike wrote down notes.

After listening to her voice for a few minutes, his eyes started to water. He tried to wipe them without her noticing, but she did and said, "I'm sorry, Mike."

Mike shook his head and said, "let's keep going."

Every time he wiped his eyes, she would tell him she was sorry.

It got to the point where he couldn't stand it he got up quickly, gathered his backpack and mumbled, "sorry El, I thought I could, but I just can't do this right now."

He ran out of the class, heading for his locker.

He had his his head in his locker. He was doing some deep breathing again. It wasn't working for him this time.

He was alone again, and it didn't seem like that would change anytime soon. If El wasn't his girlfriend, he wasn't interested in anyone else. He snorted. He'd be single for the rest of his life.

"I'm so sorry I hurt you Mike. I got-"

"Can't do this right now." Mike interrupted, gave her a quick look and shook his head. He could see she was crying.

He wanted to kiss her tears away so badly his heart ached. But that part of their life was over…

He left his locker wide open and ran to the school doors to get away.

He had never felt so alone in his life.


	8. Chapter 8 - Stupid Girl Stuff

**Stupid Girl Stuff**

Mike got to the bike rack and noticed it was almosts empty. He could see kids walking out of the school. They were the same kids in his Earth class.

Mr. Clarke was following them out.

Shit, was that today? Mike thought.

Mr. Clarke had gotten special permission for a Hawkins field trip. They were to be given assignments and use the day to complete as much of the assignment as they could.

"Your partner is waiting for you in the class," Mr. Clarke said as he walked by.

Mike got to the empty classroom. Empty except for El sitting alone at their desk.

"Sorry I'm late. Holly had a bit of an accident and I stayed to help."

"Is she ok?" El asked. Mike could see she looked genuinely concerned.

"Yeah." Mike gave El a small smile, "she's a tough kid. Just took a few hugs and a kiss on a scratched knee."

"We have our assigned area," she said.

"Can I see it?"

El turned a deep red. What was _that_ about? Mike waited but El was very slow to get an envelope from her pack.

On the cover of the envelope was written Mike + El. Mike was ok with that, it was Mr. Clarke's way of designating partners. The problem with the heart that was drawn around their names. And it looked like it was breaking in half.

"It's someone trying to be funny El. Don't let it bother you."

He opened up the envelope. "The train tracks. Catalogue all the plant species you can find."

"I already got a reference book from the library, in case we get stuck. Do you want to use the clipboard to mark down or do you want me to?" El said.

"You're handwriting is much better than mine. You can?" El looked at him and nodded.

Mike was in a good mood again. He'd just talked to El without breaking down, and he was able to look into her eyes, and still keep from crying. Maybe they could still be friends after all.

"Um, Mike. it's a long walk from here, I don't have my bike."

"It's ok El, I'll double you on my bike, ok?"

She looked at him and nodded.

"Ok let's get going."

Mike noticed that El did not put her arms around his waist when she held on , she gripped the side of his jacket. She didn't rest her head on his back either. He sighed. He was going to miss that.

When the got to the tracks, El asked, "how do we do this? Taking your bike along will slow us down."

"We'll leave my bike here, and stay on this side of the tracks, at noon, we'll cross over and make our way back."

El grabbed a clipboard and pencil out of her backpack. Mike grabbed the reference book. He walked up to the first tree.

"This one is easy, it's a white pine, mark that one down." He glanced back at El and her pretty eyes smiled back at him.

And that was the last of Mike's resolve. He put head against the tree and his breath hitched once before the heavy sobs started.

He wasn't quite sure when it happened but eventually he felt El hugging him from behind, her arms holding his waist tight and her head pressed against his back between his shoulder blades.

"I've been so stupid." she said.

"I broke the heart of the boy I love… and I don't think you'll ever forgive me… and I don't know how to… I don't know how…" El started crying.

"I don't how to be your girlfriend again." The tears came hard and fast from her eyes.

Mike wasn't going to be able to hear her cry for much longer, he had to do something.

"Why did you break up with me El? I thought everything was ok?"

"It was, I got bad advice… stupid girl stuff from someone I thought was a friend.. I'm too embarrassed to even tell you."

Mike leaned in and kissed her tears away.

El closed her eyes. Fresh tears replaced the old ones. Mike kissed those away also. "I missed that. I missed that so much." El continued talking through her tears. "I've been miserable ever since I put that note in your locker."

"I want you to be my girlfriend again El but we tell each other everything from now on. We don't have secrets from each other. It's almost the same as lying."

"And Friends Don't Lie. Ok Mike, but I don't think you're ready for this."

"El," Mike looked down. "I love you, there's nothing you can do or tell me that's going to change that. Not after what we've just been through."

"Promise?" El said, her eyes were pleading with his.

"I promise, El."

She took the library reference book on plants and put it down at his feet. Mike watched her tilt her head forward, and frown as if she was trying to glean the knowledge from the book by osmosis.

Mike thought his eyes would pop out of his head, when the book lifted off the ground and up into his hands.

A trickle of blood seeped out of El's nose and she looked a bit pale, but she wasn't unsteady on her feet.

Mike looked at the book, and then at El. She smiled at him weakly and said, "no secrets Mike. That's mine. And you can't tell anyone else. It's not safe for either of us if others know."

"Um… uh… um… I don't have any superpowers to show you El. Do you still want to be my girlfriend?"

"More than anything Mike."

El closed her eyes and Mike gave her a soft kiss. "That's what I miss. I missed that a lot."

They identified almost a hundred plants, way more than Mr. Clarke would have expected. They took a little longer than they thought they would because El would kiss him after he'd identified each plant. "That must be a record." El said.

"For species of plants?" Mike asked.

"For planted kisses." El giggled.

Mike looked into her eyes. He thought his knees would buckle.

"El… I…"

"I know Mike. I do too."

"Forever El."

El nodded, "forever Mike."

He held her hand till they got to back to his bike.

She hopped on the back, and put her arms around his waist. Tight. He felt her head resting on the his back. He smiled the entire way back to school.

The air smelled better, the colours around him looked brighter.

He didn't have to wonder why.

It was because El Hopper was Mike Wheeler's girlfriend.


End file.
